Disappointed

[cthomas]

It was probably me making a bad choice years ago when I bought BC2. When I was looking for a program I could find duplicate files for me.

Although BC3 does a lot of things. I haven't found a way to do what I need it to do. And when I read the posts other people seem to have the same trouble.

So I think it is time for me to quit wasting my time here trying to learn to do something that BC3 can't do.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Beyond Compare is a file and folder compare and merge utility... one of the best compare and merge utilities on the market. It is not, and has never tried to be, a duplicate file finder. If you want to work with duplicate files, there are plenty of tools available to help you with that... even free ones. For example, there are three utilities (duplicate file finder, duplicate image finder, and duplicate song finder) at Ashisoft.com. Here's a link to another utility called Fast Duplicate File Finder. If you don't like either of these, a simple Internet search should reveal half a dozen other utilities you can choose from.

[cthomas]

Beyond Compare is a file and folder compare and merge utility... one of the best compare and merge utilities on the market. It is not, and has never tried to be, a duplicate file finder. If you want to work with duplicate files, there are plenty of tools available to help you with that... even free ones. For example, there are three utilities (duplicate file finder, duplicate image finder, and duplicate song finder) at Ashisoft.com. Here's a link to another utility called Fast Duplicate File Finder. If you don't like either of these, a simple Internet search should reveal half a dozen other utilities you can choose from.

"It was probably me making a bad choice years ago" As you can see I take the blame. Yes it is tops for what is does. And thanks for the suggestions. I'm not a programer but looks to me like it would be a big plus if you added "duplicate file finder". It looks to me like you are all ready half way there. And it seems you have a lot users needing that funcation.

[Zoë]

Just to avoid any misunderstandings, Michael doesn't work at Scooter. He's a very prolific fan.

We've had lots of requests for duplicate file finding over the years, and it is something we're always considering. So far it hasn't had priority because we've wanted to flesh out the core compare/merge features instead. I'm sorry BC can't easily do what you're looking for. I'm sure we'll add it eventually, but for now our official stance is that it's better to use a dedicated utility.

[misi01]

I agree Craig

At the end of the day, why reinvent the wheel ? BC's strength is file/folder comparison - that's where (I think) all development should go

[Michael Bulgrien]

Well, in compare utility like BC3, a duplicate file finder can be much more than a routine that locates actual duplicate files without regard to filename (binary equivalent - same size and CRC).

Just as you can set up rules to compare files, you can define rules on how to determine what should be flagged as a dup. Files with the same file name without regard to content; ignore or include the file extension; ignore or respect case sensitivity (especially in the Linux world); find files that match a regular expression file mask; include or exclude files from the list based on other filters (date, size, DOS attributes, text content, etc.) For duplicate file searches that are not strictly content based, once the list of files is returned BC can do what it does best... enable user to launch comparisons of the files directly from the result set and perform additional analysis. So, at the end of the day, you haven't reinvented the wheel at all...you've created a value-added addition to an already awesome compare utility that goes beyond what the average "dedicated duplicate file finder" is designed to do.